III 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 272 

Recognizing and honoring the life and achievements of Constance Baker 

Motley, a judge for the United States District Court, Southern District 

of New York. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 7 (legislative day, OCTOBER 6), 2005 

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mr. SPECTER, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. OBAMA, Mr. 

BAYH, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. 

DEWINE, Mr. HARKIN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. CORZINE, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

KENNEDY, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. HATCH, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. 

COCHRAN, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr. HAGEL, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. LIEBERMAN, 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. REID, and Mr. KERRY) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing and honoring the life and achievements of Constance Baker Motley, a judge for the United States District Court, Southern District of New York. 

Whereas Constance Baker Motley was born in 1921, in New 

Haven, Connecticut, the daughter of immigrants from the 

Caribbean island of Nevis; 

Whereas in 1943, Constance Baker Motley graduated from 

New York University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 

economics; 

Whereas, upon receiving a law degree from Columbia University in 1946, Constance Baker Motley became a staff at-
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•SRES 272 ATS

torney at the National Association for the Advancement 

of Colored People Legal Defense and Educational Fund, 

Inc., and fought tirelessly for 2 decades alongside 

Thurgood Marshall and other leading civil rights lawyers 

to dismantle segregation throughout the country; 

Whereas Constance Baker Motley was the only female attorney on the legal team that won the landmark desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education; 

Whereas Constance Baker Motley argued 10 major civil 

rights cases before the Supreme Court, winning all but 

one, including the case brought on behalf of James Meredith challenging the University of Mississippi’s refusal to 

admit him; 

Whereas Constance Baker Motley’s only loss before the 

United States Supreme Court was in Swain v. Alabama, 

a case in which the Court refused to proscribe race-based 

peremptory challenges in cases involving African-American defendants and which was later reversed in Batson 

v. Kentucky on grounds that had been largely asserted by 

Constance Baker Motley in the Swain case; 

Whereas in 1964, Constance Baker Motley became the first 

African-American woman elected to the New York State 

Senate; 

Whereas in 1965, Constance Baker Motley became the first 

African-American woman, and the first woman, to serve 

as president of the Borough of Manhattan; 

Whereas Constance Baker Motley, in her capacity as an elected public official in New York, continued to fight for civil 

rights, dedicating herself to the revitalization of the inner 

city and improvement of urban public schools and housing; 
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•SRES 272 ATS

Whereas in 1966, Constance Baker Motley was appointed by 

President Johnson as a United States District Court 

Judge for the Southern District of New York; 

Whereas the appointment of Constance Baker Motley made 

her the first African-American woman, and only the fifth 

woman, appointed and confirmed for a Federal judgeship; 

Whereas in 1982, Constance Baker Motley was elevated to 

Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the 

Southern District of New York, the largest Federal trial 

court in the United States; 

Whereas Constance Baker Motley assumed senior status in 

1986, and continued serving with distinction for the next 

2 decades; and 

Whereas Constance Baker Motley passed away on September 

28, 2005, and is survived by her husband Joel Wilson 

Motley Jr., their son, Joel Motley III, her 3 grandchildren, her brother, Edmund Baker of Florida, and her 

sisters Edna Carnegie, Eunice Royster, and Marian 

Green, of New Haven, Connecticut: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) extends its heartfelt sympathy to the family 

3 and friends of Constance Baker Motley on the occa4 sion of her passing; and 

5 (2) commends Constance Baker Motley for— 

6 (A) her 39-year tenure on the United 

7 States District Court for the Southern District 

8 of New York; and 
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•SRES 272 ATS

1 (B) her lifelong commitment to the ad2 vancement of civil rights and social justice. 

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